The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety adopted the report by Simona BONAFÈ (S&D, IT) on the proposal for a directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2008/98/EC on waste.
The committee recommended that the European Parliament’s position adopted at first reading following the ordinary legislative procedure should amend the Commission proposal as follows:
Members introduced amendments aiming to strengthen waste prevention measures and encourage the development of an efficient secondary raw materials market.
They stressed that the Waste Framework Directive is an important instrument to enhance the circular economy.
By-products: Members stipulated that a substance or object resulting from a production process the primary aim of which is not the production of that substance or object shall be considered not to be waste, but to be a by-product if certain conditions are met. They withheld the possibility for the Commission to be empowered to establish harmonised criteria on the application of by-product status, prioritising proven and replicable industrial and agricultural symbiosis practices.
End-of-waste status: the Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts establishing harmonised provisions related to the end-of-waste status to certain types of waste. Where criteria have not been set at a Union level, Member States should be allowed to establish detailed end-of-waste criteria at national level for certain waste in accordance with conditions set at Union level.
The weight of waste which is considered to have ceased to be waste may be reported as recycled if the materials or substances that have ceased to be waste are to be subject to reprocessing, excluding energy recovery and the reprocessing into materials that are to be used as fuels or for backfilling operations.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes: Members proposed introducing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) schemes and to define it based on harmonised rules. Member States should ensure the establishment of extended producer responsibility schemes for at least packaging, electrical and electronic equipment, batteries and accumulators, and end-of-life vehicles.
Waste prevention: in order to contribute to the prevention of waste, Member States shall aim to achieve, at least, the following objectives:
- a significant reduction in waste generation;
- decoupling of waste generation from economic growth;
- a progressive substitution of substances of very high concern if there are suitable alternative substances or technologies that are economically and technically viable;
- a Union food waste reduction target of 30 % by 2025 and of 50 % by 2030 compared to the 2014 baseline;
- a Union marine litter reduction target of 30 % by 2025 and 50 % by 2030 compared to the 2014 baseline.
In order to achieve these objectives, Member States shall in particular promote and support sustainable production and consumption models; discourage the placing on the market of products with planned obsolescence; reduce food losses along the whole supply chain and prevent littering.
By 31 December 2018, the Commission shall examine the possibility of setting up Union-wide waste prevention targets to be met by 2025 and 2030.
Re-use: Members suggested defining more clearly the notion of reuse. Re-use, should be regarded as a specific waste prevention measure and incentivised by the Member States.
Preparation of re-use and recycling: Member States shall take ambitious measures in respect of the preparing for re-use. They shall set up mandatory separate collection of textiles by 2020 and take measures to promote sorting systems for commercial and industrial waste for at least the following: metals, plastics, paper and cardboard, bio-waste, glass and wood.
Members proposed that by 2030, the preparing for re-use and the recycling of municipal waste shall be increased to a minimum of 70 % by weight of municipal waste generated, including a minimum of 5 % of total municipal waste prepared for re-use. The Commission had proposed a target of 65 %.
Member States which in 2013 recycled less than 20% of their municipal waste may ask the Commission for an additional five years in order to reach the preparation for re-use and recycling targets set for 2025 and 2030. To obtain these exemptions, the Member States concerned should submit an implementation plan, to be assessed by the Commission on the basis of specific criteria, and should meet interim targets relating to preparation for re-use and recycling.
The Commission shall examine the possibility of setting preparing for reuse and recycling targets that apply to commercial waste, non-hazardous industrial waste and other waste streams to be met by 2025 and 2030.
Members also placed emphasis on the need for specific measures for the reprocessing of organic waste and called for the separate collection of bio-waste to be made mandatory and supported with suitable economic instruments.
Framework for the circular economy: no later than 31 December 2018, the Commission shall draw up a report assessing the need for Union targets, particularly for a Union resource efficiency target, as well as a report identifying obstacles hampering the shift to a circular economy. It should present a comprehensive review of Union eco-design legislation.